


Blood is Only Magic if You Are

by AbidingAnxiety



Series: Blood Bank AU (BBAU) [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blood, Broken Bones, F/F, F/M, I just love these guys okay?, M/M, Taako-centric, also idk how injuries work bye, also kinda Angus-centric, apologies in advance for all of the magic rules im making up right now, everyone gets worried about taako, merle is in this but not a whole lot, taako is not about that life, um hey listen im really shy so i dont post stuff often and this may be good but probably not?, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-04-04 11:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14019114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbidingAnxiety/pseuds/AbidingAnxiety
Summary: After he had split ways with Sazed, all those years ago, Taako had gotten low on cash and "donated" some of his blood to a clinic that bought and sold "magical" blood. Since he was an elf, he was in and out in less than a half-hour, out of a pint of blood but fifty gold richer.He never thought he'd run into the darker side of the blood trade years later.(TL;DR Taako and Angus go out to the town on magic day and get surprised by blood hunters. Everyone worries about Taako, especially Angus. Yeah. This is basically Taako angst I don't know what else to tell you. I'll probably rename later.)





	1. Magic Day!

**Author's Note:**

> First fic! Whoo!  
> Hey all, apologies in advance for the weird magic system I've put in place. Basically, there's magic juice (aka. energy) versus spell slots. Technically, you could cast for forever, but at some point your body would literally no longer have the energy to keep your organs from failing. Like, your heart could stop or kidneys shut down, etc. This allows for a bit more casting abilities, but also no built in safety cap. That problem doesn't really come up in here, just wanted to give you a heads up. Also, I have weird magic rules.

It was Magic Day.

Angus was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. It had been a while since the last magic day, what with the Tres Horny Bois going off and getting another magical item, so it was even more special than usual! Angus had made sure that he went to bed extra early (he needed sleep if he wanted to learn as much as possible!) but ended up waking up early, too. He had spent most of the morning checking and rechecking that he had everything he could possibly need. It didn't matter if Taako told him it was just going to be "a chill sesh, no stress and all that," Angus knew he should be as prepared as he possibly could. Detectives should always be prepared. Especially since Taako’s definition of "easy magic" was assuredly different than almost everybody else’s. Who knew what he had in store! Angus bounced as he went up to the apartment that the adventurers shared and knocked politely.

Magnus opened the door with a smile. "Hey, Ango!"

“Hello sir!”

“Magic day?” Magnus questioned as he opened the door wider to let Angus in.

“Yep!” Angus held up his wand, fumbling with a tome, pen, and notebook in the other arm.

“Here,” Magnus grabbed the precariously stacked items out of his hand. “And I won’t even hold it where you can’t reach.”

“Excuse my language, sir, but you and I both know that’s horseshit,” Angus said, exasperated, as he carefully toed off his shoes.

Magnus giggled. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s way too much fun.”

“Magnus, have you seen the- oh, good, Ango is here,” Taako was a whirlwind as he rushed through the hall to the kitchen, opening and closing various cabinet doors with a clatter. Suddenly, the noises stopped and Taako backtracked, arms full of various spices. “Why’d you take your shoes off? We’re goin’ out today.”

“We are?” Angus looked from his shoes to the papers Magnus was holding and back again.

“Well, I needed to get some ingredients for this spell potion I’ve been trying to make and I thought ‘hey, why not go with the boy detective and make a day out of it?’ And then I thought about your wristbow and that made up my mind.”

“My…wristbow?”

“Pumpkin, it’s tacky as all hell. We can find you something much better.” Taako looked at Magnus and hastily continued. “Which I only care about because you’re around me all the time and I can’t be seen with someone wearing that.”

“Right,” Angus smiled, “but it’s still Magic Day?”

“Of course it’s still magic day,” Taako rolled his eyes. “We can still do it on the road. Won’t need those though,” he nodded at the books in Magnus’ hand.

“Aww,” Magnus whined, handing the books back to Agnus, “it’s no fun if he doesn’t want them.”

“Since you’re as early as ever-”

“I’m on time, sir.”

“-and you’ve got your shoes off anyway, c’mon. We’ll practice disguise self before we go.”

\---

"Now, the key to a good disguise self is the details. You gotta know what you want," Taako rummaged around his room, grabbing money from various areas around the room. "What do you want to look like? What do you want to change? You've gotta ask yourself those questions and you gotta be specific or it'll turn out like shit."

"How specific, sir?"

"It's Taako, Agnes," Taako moved to face Angus. "And you gotta be specific enough to- ugh, hold on."

Taako paused for a minute, thinking. "Alright, say you want your nose to be bigger. If you just cast minor illusion with no other thought in your noggin than 'bigger nose,' you could end up with something as big as a trunk - or you might not make it big enough."

"Okay. I...kind of get it."

"All magic works better the more specific you make it, Agnes," Taako sat down on his bed next to the detective. "Now, say you got your nose to the right size. Now you can decide how to shape it. Do you want a ridge? You want a bend? You want it perfectly contoured? The more details you add, the better it will be."

Nerves rose in Angus' stomach. Minor illusion suddenly seemed much more complicated than it sounded.

Taako clapped a hand onto Angus' shoulder. "You'll do fine. Now, what do you think I use disguise self for? Other than to be someone else, of course."

"An outfit? Makeup?" Angus guessed.

 "Got it in one, bubeluh. Of course, if I want the look to stay all day, or if I don't want to use up my magic juice, I'm gonna want to do that shit manually," Taako laid down dramatically on the bed. "But sometimes you just wanna look bomb without worrying about the goddamned weather or you got a special occasion or something."

Angus smiled. "Right, sir."

"So, whaddya wanna cast your illusion on?"

"An...outfit maybe?" Angus was dressed for a magic day, with brown slacks and a fun top. He wouldn't say that he was dressed badly, but he certainly wasn't dressed for a day in the town.

"Straight for the full body look, nice," Taako hummed approvingly. "Well, you can, but we'll be out for a while and you'll need to recast after an hour. If you're down for that, hell yeah."

Angus built up his confidence. "I can do that, sir!"

"Alright. Think about what you wanna wear, then wave your wand down over yourself and circle back. You wanna do this without an incantation or with?"

"With." Angus answered immediately. Taako always asked this question and Angus had yet to say a different answer. He was pretty sure only Taako would be able to learn a new spell without any sort of incantation, but he kept that to himself.

"It's just Poreri Maer. Wait, fuck," Taako shook his head. "I mean Dissimulato Se."

"What was it in elvish?" Angus asked after scribbling it down in elder common.

Taako's ears reddened. "Uh, it's not really important which language you say it in so long as the magical intent's there. Usually old speech like elder common has more power, but you could probably just say 'Disguise Self' and it would work fine."

Angus waited patiently.

"Uh, it might be a little tougher to pronounce. It's Poreri Maer."

Angus scribbled out how the word sounded and tried it out. Taako corrected his pronunciation and pulled the pencil from Angus' hand, scrawling the words in the elvish alphabet onto the paper. Angus nodded and took the notebook back, studying Taako's looping and curling letters.

"Anyway," Taako clapped his hands. "Think about what you want to wear. Make it specific, hun. As for me," Taako glanced towards his closet. "I got an outfit to rock so I'm all set there. Maybe some makeup to spice things up?" Staring at himself in the mirror, Taako swung his umbrella around in a circle in front of his body.

Angus watched as the makeup appeared on Taako's face, highlighting his cheekbones and causing his skin to glow more than it usually did. Taako frowned at his reflection and spun the umbrella around again, adding light eyeshadow and lipstick.

"There we go," Taako checked each side, making sure they were even. "Ready to give it a shot, pumpkin?"

"I don't know. Um."

"Darlin, I swear it's a lot easier than it seems. It's actually harder to enhance yourself than it is to just make yourself look like someone else, since it's a concept, but I know you can do it. Ain't a thing."

"Uh, alright," Angus glanced over at Taako, who suddenly found something to do on the other side of the room. Angus was grateful. He thought of the words, practicing them in his head, then took a breath and waved his wand over his body.

He checked himself in the mirror. He looked the same, but now he was wearing a blue button-up and a little bow-tie, with a sweater vest over the top, and some nice-but-casual pants to go with it. It was good, but something was missing. He took a glance over at Taako, who had gotten up on a chair to pull a small bag of coins out of - was that the ceiling? Satisfied that he wasn't looking, Angus scanned what Taako was wearing and tried again, this time changing the button up to a pastel color, adding a contrasting bow-tie, and giving himself little star earrings.

"You done?"

"I think so?"

Taako hopped off the chair with a flourish, skirt billowing out at the movement, and looked him over. "Nice work, pumpkin," he finally nodded, "though if you wanted your nails to match mine, you coulda just said so. I got stuff for that, you know."

Angus looked down at his hands. His nails, which he hadn't even thought about, matched Taako's starry nail art. He squeaked. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, I was just checking to see what I was missing and I didn't even notice that I had-"

Taako waved a hand in the air. "Don't worry about it, hun. You ready to go?"

"Ready!"


	2. Shopping Montage!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako and Angus go shopping. Things go as expected. And then they don't.

“Sir, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to shoplift from that stall.”

“Think of it as a learning experience! It’s an easy lift, even without a spell. You wanted to try out ‘blink,’ right? And for the last time, it’s Taako.”

“But we have the money to just buy that necklace, I don’t see why-”

“Agnes. Ango. Pumpkin,” Taako tsked. “The money isn’t the point. That man’s ripping people off, and he’s not even doing it  _ well _ . It wasn’t even real jewels, and he’s trying to pass it off as some relic? I’m just trying to get false products off the shelves like any decent person.”

Angus tried to stop the laughter bubbling up, but couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face. “Most decent people don’t steal items when they know they’re just overpriced, colored quartz.”

“They should,” Taako huffed. “Well, if you’re not going to do it…” Taako glanced back at the stall. “Fake or not, a bit of magic and it would look great with Krav’s suit.”

“Taako, don’t - who’s Krav?”

“...shit. Uh.”

“Is it your boyfriend?” Angus’ eyes lit up. “Is that where you’ve been sneaking off to after we practice magic?”

“Now hold on,” Taako whirled, pulling Angus to the side and out of the afternoon bustle. “Angus McDonald, have you been following me after our lessons?”

“Just to see if you’d notice. You almost caught me a few times!” Angus held back a grin. “But I always lost you around Fantasy Costco.”

“And Krav thought I was getting paranoid,” Taako muttered before raising his voice. “Tell you what. I won’t take that necklace and this conversation never happened. Deal?”

“Deal,” Angus shook Taako’s outstretched hand. “I do get to meet him eventually, right?”

Taako snorted as they went back into the crowd. “If you start doin necromancy, you sure will.”

Angus was taken aback. “Um, sir, isn’t necromancy illegal?”

“Sure is, pumpkin,” Taako looked at Angus and patted his head. “You’ll understand when you meet him.”

“But-”

“Ah-ah!” Taako raised his index finger. “That conversation never happened!”

“Oh, right. Um, where to next?”

“Well, since the market square was a flop and you refused to choose a different bow from that store-”

“I  _ like _ my wristbow, sir!”

“They offered other bows that you could fire from your arm!”

“But then I’d want to compare it with my current bow and I didn’t bring that!”

“And who’s fault is that?”

“Um, I believe that would be yours, sir.”

“Mine?” Taako gasped, bringing a hand to his chest as though mortally wounded by the idea. “How?”

“This is magic day. You never told me we were going out, nor did we head to my place to get my wristbow before we left.”

“It’s still magic day. We’ll be practicing while we walk. But fine,” Taako rolled his eyes. “Next up, herbalist.”

“Then could we maybe get me a coat?”

“Course. While you try ‘em on you’re gonna wanna recast disguise self, if you still want your outfit. Hmm, maybe shoes after that? I snapped my last heels.”

“Ok!”

“It’ll be getting late by then, but I’ll still need to grab - ugh, what was it?” Taako dug in his pocket until he found a scrap of paper he had written supplies on. “Why would I need salt? What was I thinking? Cross that off. Uh, we need to stop somewhere that sells parchment and ink. And candles. Maybe some incense if the smell isn't too intense.”

* * *

“Rosemary isn’t a standard candle scent, Taako.”

“Huh, it’s all my aunt would ever burn. Maybe she made them,” Taako shrugged it off as they stepped out of the store. It was getting dark, and there weren’t many people strolling around anymore. “It wasn’t really needed for my spell anyway, so no biggie. You’re losin your shine, darlin, you wanna recast disguise self?”

Angus shook his head, making a mental note to get Taako some rosemary candles for Candlenights. “I don’t really have enough energy.”

Taako swirled a bit of fire at the tip of his wand, playing with it. “Yeah, I’m pretty tapped too from all the tricks. How’s that mage hand comin along?”

Angus pulled his new coat a little tighter around him when the evening air hit him. “It’s okay. I can make it, but it’s hard to move around without moving my real hand, too.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty common,” Taako nodded. “I didn’t know what the shit I was doing when I started controlling mine. I knocked over a can of oil into a fire, if I remember correctly,” he wasn’t sure if he was. He vaguely remembered setting a tent on fire after that, somebody being mad at him, and he couldn’t really remember how he got out of that situation by himself but he was fairly certain the whole thing ended with laughter, somehow. His memory was a bit hazy, there. 

He shook the feelings away. “It’s like you’ve got a whole ‘nother hand. Gotta get those pathways and shit all set up in your brain. Eventually you’ll get used to the feeling and you can start doing more complex shit, like havin it carry stuff for you.” 

Taako jerked his head back to show off his mage hand, which was carrying his bag of supplies for him. “It uses less concentration the more you do it.”

Angus furrowed his eyebrows, conjuring his mage hand and concentrating.

“Try folding your real hands together while you get your mage hand to wave,” Taako paused, ears swiveling as he felt a wave of...something...wash over the area. It was magical in nature, that much was certain, but he couldn’t define what it was. The streets were empty.

That didn’t bode well. “Hey Ango, I think we need to go-”

“Look sir! I did it!”

Taako turned to face him. “Wait, really? Aw, hell yeah, dude!”

Angus was beaming, his hands folded together while a shining mage hand waved to Taako. Wordlessly, Taako conjured his mage hand as well and gave Angus an astral high-five.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Fuckin rad, Ango- agh!” Taako stumbled as an arrow skimmed his thigh. “What the shit?”

Taako took a second to check out the hit – it was superficial and barely bleeding – before his ears perked at the sound of another shot being fired and he tackled Angus out of the way. The two of them dropped immediately, mage hand dropping and bags spilling across the ground. Under him, beads of red rose from Angus’ cheek as the arrow grazed it.

“Careful, you idiot! You could have hit the elf!” an angry voice yelled from within the alley to the right of him. Taako glanced. He was a dragonborn.

“You told me we didn’t need the kid so I was gonna take care of him!” another voice, more feminine-sounding, yelled indignantly from above.

Taako stiffened, ears twitching as he heard the dragonborn in the alley move closer. Quickly, he rose to his feet, pushing the shopping bags aside with his foot. He readied his wand as Angus got up.

“Well we need the elf alive, you moron, so shoot the kid somewhere else!”

“Fine! God!” the scrape of an arrow against bowstring, now that he was listening for it, was obvious in the otherwise quiet air.

Taako pushed Angus in the opposite direction before skidding forward and throwing magic missiles at the attacker that he  _ could _ see. He tossed a couple upward for good measure, too. He knew that the other person was up there somewhere, hopefully he would get lucky and blind him.

As he did so, another man – a human one – came up behind the one in the alley and threw up a piss-poor magical shield. Taako raised an eyebrow. If that man thought that his shield was going to actually do anything to prevent his missiles, he’d be in for a shock.

The missiles heading towards the alley went through the shield like wet paper. Only the first to hit it looked like it had any trouble going through, and even then it only fought for a second before the shield burst and it continued on its path up to the roof, hitting it and causing debris to fly everywhere. The caster of the shield – a wiry, pale human – got hit with a large chunk of the roof and it knocked him to the ground. He hit the cobblestone street with a loud crack and looked like he was either unconscious or dead. Either way, he wasn’t a threat anymore.

Taako snorted. That human was in and out of that battle with one shot, and hitting him hadn’t even been part of the plan.

His other missiles did just as well. One of them had hit a different section of the roof and had flushed the archer from her position. She appeared to be a halfling, and judging from the amount of eye-rubbing and hacking the she was doing, a decent amount of dust had probably gotten spread around. His other three missiles hit the dragonborn square on. The dragonborn got blown back by the missiles but simply rubbed at the spot they had hit and continued getting closer. As the light reached him, Taako realized that the guy was  _ built _ . Like, Magnus-level built. Fuck. Taako didn’t have the spells to deal with him from a distance, and there was no way he’d win in a physical contest with that guy. Hell, Taako didn’t want to get within ten feet of him, which meant he had to leave their shopping bags behind. Double fuck. And he had just bought new shoes, too.

“Shit! I thought you said they used up all their spell slots!” The one on the roof coughed.

Taako didn’t wait around for the response, grabbing Angus’ hand and pulling him away from  _ that fucking huge dragonborn, jesus _ . “Call an orb! Call an orb!” he yelled.

“I already did!” Angus panted. “There’s no response!”

“What do you mean, there’s no response?!”

Angus looked frantic. “I don’t know! I pressed it right when you got hit and it should have gotten here by now! Maybe it doesn’t come when people are around?” Angus shook his head. “It’s like we’re underground or something!”

Taako rummaged through his clothes for the Stone of Farspeech that had somehow wormed its way underneath his shirt, a difficult task while running. “Do have any spells left in you, Ango?” he tried to keep his concern out of his voice, though he doubted the boy detective would fall for it.

“Um, maybe one or two?”

“Lying will get you nowhere, pumpkin.”

Angus blushed. “I-I wasn’t lying, sir!”

“I taught you how to feel for your limits,” Taako’s breath came out in sharp pants. “Do it. Overextending your magic juice could be fatal, pumpkin.”

“Oh,” Angus’ voice went quieter, “maybe one. If it’s small.”

“Alright, save it for- oh thank god.” Taako pulled out his Stone of Farspeech as they turned a corner. “Magnus, Merle, you guys there?”

Another halfling appeared out of an alley in front of them and Taako swore. He grabbed Angus’ hand and prepared himself to use more energy than he had in him to try and teleport himself and Angus away. It would fucking hurt, and he’d probably be out cold for the next…day or two, but it was a better option than whatever the hell was going on right now.

As he started to cast, the halfling stepped forward incredibly quickly, running and punching him in the chest, effectively stopping the spell he was casting as he was winded. No, fuck, more than winded. He heard one of his bones crack. Possibly two. Fucking fuck. At least they were just cracked, not broken. Or he hoped, anyway. 

He bent over for a moment before casting a spell that sent the halfling flying back into the brick wall of the alleyway. He didn’t bother to check to see if the halfling was still conscious, his ribs taking priority for a moment. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, and the Stone of Farspeech – which he had  _ just _ found, too –  was completely crushed by the blow. He dropped it and the broken chain it was attached to onto the ground.

“Sir? Sir?!” Angus’ hands fluttered around his chest.

“I-I’m good,” Taako took shallow breaths and straightened up the best he could – which wasn’t much, granted, and his vision was blurry. He was surprised he was still conscious, really. If he was with anyone other than Ango, he probably would have just told them he was out for the rest of the battle. That punch took…way too much out of him. But ducking out wasn’t really an option here. Lucretia would  **_destroy_ ** him if anything happened to Angus (and, to be fair, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Angus hurt either, not like he’d inflate the kid’s ego by saying it or anything).

“What is going on over here, Kael?!” A woman holding a sword walked forward, shaking her head.

“Sorry Vex,” the halfling, Kael, spoke, looking worse for wear. They wiped blood from their face and continued, “he was going to teleport. Didn’t want ta lose him.”

“Hmm,” Vex nodded, “fine. Alright. Ugh, we’re only a few minutes in and Farris has already resorted to shooting our target. We only get money for the blood that’s inside, not out. I thought she was a much better shot than this.”

“Blood dealers? You know the theory -- behind that is shit, right?”

Vex shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what you think. I’ll get paid by the end of the day.”

“Out of all the goddamn days to- how many – of you – are there?!” Taako swore between winces. He didn’t have the magic energy for this and, judging by the comments earlier, their pursuers knew it. Taako wondered how long they had been following him – and how the hell he and Angus didn’t notice. Well, okay, Taako was used to some staring in public, but he usually knew about it. You couldn't live on the streets alone for most of your life unless you had some sort of self-awareness. Angus was observant, usually, but Taako supposed doing magic had distracted them both. Well, that and the darkness for Angus. Humans couldn’t see in the dark, right?

His lungs ached and Taako had to resist the urge to sit down. He tried to gesture to Angus to  _ fucking run _ , but Angus ignored him and pulled one of Taako’s arms around him to help prop him up. The kid was better than him by a long shot. Taako would have just flashed a peace sign and decked it the hell out of there.

(Granted, he had the opportunity to do that exact thing earlier and didn’t, but that was different).

“Are you alright, Taako?”

Yeah, that kid was way better than he was. Dammit. Taako gritted his teeth. “You might have to use that spell sooner than expected, hun.”

Vex continued as if they hadn’t been talking. “Several. Of course, the goal of a large group is to minimize the risk of someone important getting hurt,” she sighed, “which doesn’t appear to be happening. How hard is it to kill a child?”

A muscular dwarf stepped into view, carrying a rather impressive staff, backing the woman up. “We always aim for witnesses first. I don’t know what the hell Farris was thinking.”

“Well, at least Jor and Byron did their job.” The woman swung her sword without further warning – but was aiming for Angus, not Taako. Without thinking, Taako nudged Angus to the side and the sword cut through his chest, slicing his shirt open and sending blood spattering across the ground. (And why the hell had he done that? What happened to his self-preservation?) 

Taako’s breath hitched as nearly the rest of his hit points left, and he felt his body sway and tremble. He caught himself between the alley wall and Angus before he could collapse.

He must have subconsciously picked up that stupid habit of taking the hit from Magnus. He was a goddamned wizard, for crying out loud, he didn’t have the hit points to be protective. 

The woman tsked. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Taako!” Angus gasped.

Taako waved him off, making a weak argument for his sudden lapse of judgement. “No…sense in…both of us bein hurt…pumpkin. Now show ‘em what for.”

Angus wavered, but held his ground and casted the first spell he could think of: the rather showy and loud ‘knock’ spell. Behind the attackers, a large oak door burst open with a loud BANG that reverberated through the alley.

Startled by the sudden sound, the weapon-clad dwarf, human, and halfling turned to face the noise. Taako took advantage of their surprise and picked Angus up, bolting out and away from their pursuers and slipping into a half-built building once they were out of eyesight. Shuddering from the effort, Taako used one of his last spells to make sure that he didn’t leave a blood trail for the pursuers to follow. 

“God, carrying people -- looks so easy -- when Magnus -- does it.” Taako sounded breathless, even to himself, as he wormed his way through the building. His chest burned from the cut and the damage to his ribs and he was well on his way to disassociation to disconnect from the pain. The wooziness he was getting from maintaining a spell was only adding to the odd, confusing feeling, making him feel incredibly fatigued.

“Um, sir? We would probably go faster if I ran myself,” Angus sounded muffled against his chest.

“Oh. Yeah, huh.” Taako dazedly set Angus down, stumbling a little. “They didn’t want to kill me, so I figured that if I covered you, they wouldn’t throw anything too bad…?” Taako lost his train of thought, but it didn’t seem to matter since Angus was nodding.

Angus looked shaken at the dark blood that was now smeared across his front, darkening his new coat.

“I don’t think,” Taako wobbled on his feet as they weaved their way up the stairs of the building, “I can stay upright much longer, pumpkin.”

Angus took a look at Taako, who had an arm clutched tight around his chest, and nodded. “We need to find somewhere to hide until we can get ahold of someone.”

As they turned to climb the second set of stairs, Taako felt a particularly intense bout of pain and fatigue sweep over his body and barely caught himself on the railing before his vision got too spotty.

“Taako?”

“I’m good.” Taako clenched his teeth, holding back the urge to vomit or pass out or do some odd combination of the two. He tried to blink the spots from his eyes, but they wouldn’t leave. 

He pushed himself upright from his slumped position on the railing, took a minute to make sure that the spell covering their tracks was still working, and forced his feet to continue up the stairs. Dimly, he realized that he had been steadily losing consciousness as blood leaked out of the cut on his chest, but he ignored it in favor of making more progress.

Every step got progressively more difficult. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Taako was wedged between Angus and the railing and barely felt conscious. Every breath was torture and all he wanted to do was lie down or pass out or whatever would stop the pain he was experiencing.

“This floor is fine,” Taako gasped. He was wary to leave behind half of his support, but there was no way around it. He took another shallow breath and let go of the railing.

Everything went hazy after that.

It was like time was moving too quickly for him to process. He felt immense pain, then nothing. The feeling of wooden floors rubbing against his back. A sudden pressure on his chest. All in a second. All he felt like he had done was blink, but he must have had his eyes closed for a longer amount of time because suddenly he was crammed in a small, dark place with a worried boy-detective wrapping his (nice, new, pastel-colored) coat around Taako’s chest. Angus was applying pressure, sitting on top of Taako’s legs so they could both fit within the cramped space.

Taako’s spell must have ended when he collapsed, because he could see the spatters of blood that had dripped from his chest onto the wooden floor. 

Angus was biting his lip – a habit that he must have picked up from Taako at some point, because he couldn’t remember Angus doing it before they started practicing magic together – and focusing hard on Taako’s chest as though staring at the wound would heal it.

“Are we in a closet?” Taako asked. His voice felt raspy and dry, and he could feel sweat trickle down his forehead. At least his night-vision was still working fine. Or, well, as fine as it could with his eyes half-open and sweat dripping into them.

Angus looked up, clearly relieved to hear him speaking. His eyes were red, and his voice hushed when he spoke. “You collapsed and I didn’t know what-” he cut himself off, “I managed to move you in here and clean up our trail the best that I could, but I don’t think it’s good enough.”

Outside the building, Taako could hear yelling voices. He decided that it would be best if he kept his voice low, too. He tried to keep his tone light. “Guess I shoulda showed you my magic tricks some other time, huh?”

Angus’ lips quivered and tears welled in his eyes.

“Oh, pumpkin,” Taako tried to raise a hand to ruffle Angus’ hair, but he felt so weak that he gave up halfway and held Angus' arm instead. “You did just fine.”

Angus sniffed. “That’s the problem!” he bit his lip again. “I  _ didn’t _ do fine. It really  _ isn’t _ good enough!”

“Pumpkin-”

“If I just knew more spells, then maybe-”

“Ango, I know plenty of spells and we still ended up like this. It’s not cuz you’re a bad wizard, it’s cuz we were basically out of magic juice.”

Angus nodded, pushing up his bent glasses and biting his lip, and Taako dropped his arm. 

“You know, sir, I can take a few hits,” Angus mumbled into his chest after a brief pause. 

“Huh, you know, I’ve told Magnus that exact same thing.”

“But see, I’m not lying, sir,” Angus gave a small smile.

“Hey, fuck you too then,” Taako closed his eyes, happy that Angus felt well enough to banter. Fuck, his chest hurt. Breathing and speaking was just making it feel worse…but he’d deal with it for his magic boy. “Our odds are better if you’re unhurt.”

“But I have at least as many hit points as you, now. Maybe more, actually.”

Taako blinked. “Huh. Really? When did that happen? – oh, it’s cause you’re a fightin boy as well as a magic boy, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Taako felt himself drifting off, but before he could fall asleep, he felt Angus’ hand on his face.

“Taako?” 

“Hmm?”

“You need to stay awake.”

“I don’t have a concussion, bubeluh,” Taako paused, “probably.”

“Just stay with me?” Angus lips quivered again and – shit, were those tears? “Please?”

“Ugh, alright.” Jesus, the things he’d do for this damn kid. Taako forced his eyes to stay open. “Got any topics? I’m tapped.”

“Why are they after you?”

“Blood trade, the racist assholes. Well, probably the blood trade. You know, when I asked for a topic, I meant something other than what is currently goin on, pumpkin.”

“Oh,” Angus looked nervous, “um, I can't really think of anything else, sorry.”

“Mmm. Any response from our bracers yet? Any spheres?”

“No.”

“Shit. Uh, how about next time, we keep shopping days and magic practice days separate?”

“I think that’s a good idea, sir. And I’ll bring my weapon next time.”

Taako hummed in agreement. “So long as you choose something less tacky than that wristbow. Or at least let me magic it a different color or something.”

Angus gave a small smile at that, and Taako felt gratified until the yelling outside grew closer and that smile dropped. Angus pushed more pressure on Taako’s wound and he gave a strangled yelp of pain.

“Oh, sorry, sorry!” Angus let up a little.

“Cracked…ribs, bubeluh.” Taako gasped.

“I just,” Angus sighed, “this really isn’t a good hiding place.”

Taako breathed in as deeply as he could. His chest hurt like hell, but somehow it didn’t hurt as much as before. The pain felt distant, as though it was far away. He realized that he was drifting off and shook his head a little to keep himself awake. He could sleep later. “You should find someplace better,” he finally said.

Angus moved off him a little and Taako hissed as the shifting jostled him. “Do you feel like you can get up?”

“Ango, I’d be surprised if I could even push myself remotely out of this sitting position,” Taako said, instantly regretting being honest as Angus blanched. Right, this wasn’t Merle. He shouldn’t be so candid. “You go on without me, hun. I’ll follow in a bit.”

Angus shook his head. “If I leave you alone, you could die if the bleeding doesn’t stop.”

“And you  _ will _ die if you stay with me. I’m not gonna lie, Ango; I’m all outta that magic juice and can’t really do squat if they attack,” Taako held up a hand as Angus made a move to pull him along. “We can’t get away fast enough if you drag me, bubeluh. If you were Magnus or Merle, I’d tell ‘em to go down with me. But Lucretia would murder my ass if I let you get killed.”

“But I can’t just-”

Their argument was interrupted as they heard the door of the building slam open.

Taako made his voice as quiet as possible. “They  _ will _ try to kill you if they find you, so  _ don’t let them find you _ . Find a place to hide and stay there until you are  _ certain _ that they’re gone. Got it? Then you go right to the bureau and gain back that magic juice so you can help Magnus and Merle track cha’boy down.”

Angus wavered for a second and Taako’s ears swiveled as he heard footsteps begin up the stairs. 

“Ango, you know I’m not good at this whole self-sacrifice shit so you better book it,” Taako lifted his hand and pushed Angus lightly. “You’re smart; you’ll find a place they won’t look. Hell, they’ll probably half-ass it after finding me anyway.”

Angus nodded, eyes tearing up as he threw his arms around Taako. Taako gasped a little at the jolt of pain that ran throughout his body but said nothing to betray just how much that action hurt. “Take my wand,” he tilted his head towards it, “I don’t want it left here and who knows what they'd do with it.”

Angus hesitated, but carefully picked up the umbrella, which hummed with discontent in his hand but quickly fell silent and accepted his hold.

“Take good care of that, Ango. Not a scratch.”

“Yes, sir,” Angus clutched it close to his chest. “A-and good luck.”

“You know cha’boy’s got…the best luck.” Taako forced out. He waited until Angus had stepped out of the closet before he let his head drop and let out a deep moan of pain. This time, when the fog of sleep rushed at him, he gave in to the fatigue and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. I know this chapter isn't as good as it could be, but if I don't post it now, I'll never post it. I hope you enjoy at least a part of this. Um. What even are injuries???  
> Sorry if this is rough. Finals suck and I'm so tired. RIP I guess.  
> I have a feeling the next chapter will be shorter than this one. Just a heads-up.  
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos. A special thanks if you left a comment. I love you dearly. - AbidingAnxiety


	3. Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus hides and feels guilty. I mean that's basically it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be April Fools' Day, but this chapter's no joke...  
> (Also I suck at titles please end my entire existence)

Angus had never felt  more guilty in his entire life.

Of course, his life was (hopefully) far from over, and technically he could have a far guiltier moment in the future. But he really doubted he would.

When he had left the closet, he was so overcome with guilt that he had almost just headed back inside. But he hadn’t g one back to Taako. No, instead  he  was another two floors up , attemptin g to wedge himself into a small crack in the wall on an unfinished  floor of the building .  He had to shimmy his way in, but he managed to get behind some slats that he was positive no-one taller than him would be able to get into. Of course, they could always break through the wall, but then they would have to know he was hiding behind the wooden slats.  It was a pretty good hiding  place if he didn’t account for how narrow it was. Or that he had to stand  in order to fit into it. Or the fa ct that it was freezing outside and only half the ceiling was built and that the wind blew through the slats easily.

And no matter how many times he pressed the button, no orb had come. He wondered why that was. Perhaps one of the mages in the group had created a barrier around the town so that no outside connections could be made? Or maybe  Avi was on an unscheduled drinking break again? He didn’t kn ow and – for the moment, anyway –  didn’t really care.

Thinking about how cold he was made Angus think about his new coat, which made his thoughts circle back to Taako. Had Angus tied that coat around him tight enough? Was he still conscious? 

It was hard to hear anything but  the wind from his position, but every so often he swore he could hear quiet footsteps that had him shrinking further back into his hiding place.

Angus waited for what felt like hours. His legs had gone numb and he was mostly being held up by the  wooden  walls to either side of him . Every time he thought about coming out of his hiding spot, he remembered Taako telling him not to come out until he was completely sure that the group was gone. And because he couldn’t really hear anything from where he was, he couldn’t tell if they were or not.

So Angus leaned back against the wall and waited.

* * *

 

It was dawn when Angus finally came out of the space inside the walls. His legs were sore and felt like jelly after standing so long, and he fell o ver the second he got out . He didn’t think it was possible for him to fall asleep standing up, but he must have because it didn’t feel like an entire night had passed. 

His nose was running – probably from the cold – and he deduced that he was probably going to come down with something, seeing as he had essentially been outside the whole night  without a jacket. He felt like such a- a child for how he was feeling.  His cheek stung from the arrow and his arms  were scraped from being tackled to  the ground , he was cold and sore and unbelievably tired and he just wanted to be back on the  moonbase where everything would be okay.

But it wouldn’t be okay there if Taako wasn’t okay too. 

Cautiously, if somewhat wobbly, he tiptoed down the stairs of the building, listening intently. When he heard no sounds, he made his way to the room where he had left Taako, unsurprised to find that he was no longer there but worried about it anyway.

Dazedly, he walked out of the building and headed away from the town, pressing his brace systematically. There weren’t many people awake yet, but he made sure to duck around the ones that were, just in case they wanted to approach him or something. He sneezed a few times while doing so, which was not helpful when he was trying to be sneaky.

Once he had gotten  a little ways outside the town, an orb actually came when he pressed his bracer. Angus breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the white dot grow closer. 

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep in the orb. It wasn’t as though it was that long of a ride to the moon. But all the energy he had expended, plus the rather traumatic experience and lack of sleep, had lead to a very  drowsy boy detective. He was out th e second he sat down in the orb, and not even the sha king of the or b docking woke him up.

What did wake him up, however, was  Avi lifting him up and out of the orb with a worried frown.

“ Avi , I’m 11 , ” Angus yawned, still half asleep. “I can walk on my own.”

“Angus  – god, there's a lot of blood-”

Angus  sneezed, head feeling cloudy.

“Angus, what happened?”  Avi set him down outside in a chair by the docking center. He held up a hand. “Wait, don’t answer that yet, I called  Lucretia , she’ll be here in a minute . Weren’t you out shopping with Taako or something? Where is he? What the hell happened?”

“Taako!” Angus gasped, pulling out of his sleep muddled state and standing up . “He’s hurt, they- he’s gone and- and he gave me his umbrella and- ”

“What? Slow down, Angus, wait for Lucretia to get here,”  Avi paused,  sitting Angus back down and  reaching for his Stone o f  Farspeech , “and Magnus and Merle. I h ave a feeling they’ll want to hear what you have to say .”

“But- his umbrella, where-?”

“I think I saw it in the orb. I’ll go grab it,”  Avi nodded to himself and left for the orb.

“Are you alright, Angus?” Madame Dire ctor Lucretia walked briskly towards them. Her face paled. “I  rather hoped Avi was exaggerating about the blood. ”

 

Angus looked down at himself and turned a bit green, reminded of how it got there. “Oh no, Madam Director, it’s not mine. It’ s-” he sneezed again, “ ah, sorry, it’s  T- Taako’s ,” he bit his lip and  his eyes began watering again. He made to rub at his face, but realized that there was blood on his palms and  blanched, folding them into his lap instead. But then folding his hands reminded him of how Taako showed him how to move his mage hand independently and that just sent him fidgeting again. He wrapped his arms around himself.

“What happened to Angus?!” Magnus skidded around the corner, followed by Merle, who looked disgruntled but also… worried ?

“I’m alright, sirs. Well ,” he  looked to the side, “mostly, anyway.”

“What happened, Mango ?” Magnus asked, concern obvious in his voice. Merle pushed him aside to gain access to Angus and check him over. He looked around. “And where’s Taako?" 

“Taako-achoo!” Angus sniffed. “Taako g-got kidnapped and he’s really hurt and-”

“Angus isn’t too hurt, j ust some minor scrapes and cuts, ” Merle placed a hand on Angus’ chee k. “I’m just healing this to the point where he won’t scar. He’s also got a cold.”

There was a look in Merle’s eye that reminded Angus of when he saw Merle with his family and – oh, Merle wasn’t really seeing Angus, was he? He was probably thinking of Mookie or Mavis being hurt and…Angus’ train of thought dwindled as Merle took off his jacket and handed it to him. Angus put it on,  nodding gratefully to Merle as he felt himself warm up a little. Merle gave him a tiny nod back.

“Taako was kidnapped?” Magnus looked incredulous, but it quickly turned to worry as  Avi returned with  Taako’s umbrella in hand. “Fuck, and he doesn’t have his wand?!”

Angus held out his hands, clearly wanting the umbrella, but Magnus had already taken it from  Avi . “Magnus, I promised I’d look after it.”

Magnus  looked at the umbrella with a look of nervousness before handing it to Angus. “It feels wrong without Taako holding it. I…don’t know how to explain it.”

Angus agreed. It almost felt as though the wand itself was unhappy without Taako.

Merle reached to heal him more and  Angus pushed his hands away. “ Save it for Taako!  We  have to get back down there! They could be a city away by now if they have a wagon, which they most likely do, judging by - achoo!- judging by the  horse hair on-”

“Everyone  back up ,” Lucretia instructed , stepping forward . “Angus, I want you in bed  the second after you take a shower . You look like you haven’t slept at all. Once you’re in bed, you can debrief me.”

Magnus opened his mouth to speak, and Lucretia raised a hand . “You can debrief me  alone .”

“You can’t just keep us out of thi s!” Magnus was incredibly upset, clenching and unclenching his hands around  Railsplitter as if he wanted to do  something but didn’t know  what .

“Yeah,  Taako’s a pain in the ass but he’s  our pain in  the ass. ” Merle added.

“You two. My office immediately. I’ll let you know after I know.”

“But Angus-”

“ Angus looks like he’s  going to pass out at any minute, ” Lucretia interrupted. “ and he doesn’t need more people hounding him while he tells me what’s going on.  Avi , I need you to carry Angus to his room.”

“I can - achoo!- walk, ” Angus insisted.

“I’m  sure that you can, Angus, ” Lucretia turned. “Everyone else is dismissed. Magnus, Merle? Let’s go.”

Angus watched as two of the three Tres Horny  Bois followed  Lucretia, their heads periodically turning back to Angus. He buried his head into  Avi’s shoulder when he was picked up.

“Alright, kid, let’s get you to your room, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes. :/  
> Happy Easter, Spring Solstice, April Fools' Day, National One Cent Day, Sourdough Bread Day, etc. etc. Or just happy day, for those not celebrating anything! I love it when you guys leave comments by the way. It makes my whole week. <3  
> \- Ace


	4. Chapter 4 (Naming a Chapter is Difficult)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to lie, this is not the best thing I've ever written, but I got sick of staring at it on my computer so I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Taako awoke with one of the worst headaches that he could ever remember having. Generally speaking, his magic usually worked to heal those sorts of trivial things while he was asleep. He had no idea how many little nicks would have constantly been on him if they didn’t heal at an increased rate. While he was no healer, most magic automatically began healing their users while they slept, albeit much more slowly and with much greater cost than a healer could fix them. Considering that his chest was on fire, though, he wasn’t surprised that the headache hadn’t left. He’d be lucky to have even gained any hit points back at all during the night, let alone his magical abilities. As it was, his magic was probably the only thing keeping him relatively lucid.

He still kind of wished that his magic would quit its work on his torso and fixed his headache, though. It was difficult to think of escape routes with his head throbbing.

Taako cracked an eye open, relieved when he saw that there was no sun out to make his headache worse. It was nearing evening, and past the wagon he was tied up in was his captors, who were sitting around a fire as one of their members cooked. He could hear them chattering and Taako forced aside his pain – which was difficult as all hell – and attempted to make out the words.

“-your fault, Vex,” the dragonborn – oh, what was his name? – had his arms crossed. “We won’t get nearly as much for damaged goods.”

“Oh shut it, Byron,” the halfling monk that had punched Taako – Kael? – climbed on top of  a log in order to flick the dragonborn on the forehead. “We can always heal him up on the way.”

“Is it even worth it?” Byron grumbled. “He killed Jor and nearly took out Farris in that fucking closet,” Byron waved a hand in the direction of the injured archer, who was sitting near the firepit. He had almost killed her? How? He didn’t remember doing anything, let alone an action that could’ve hurt somebody.

“Can’t we just kill him and be done?”

“You better be joking,” Vex pulled out her sword. “You know we only took Jor along because he was friends with you.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Did you even hear me when I read out that elf’s estimated blood grade? If he wasn’t drained or had that kid with him, we might not have held onto this one. He’s grade S, Byron.  _ S _ . They’d usually send their prime team for this level, and  _ we have him _ .”

Taako held back a snort at that. Grade S? He hadn’t been alive nearly long enough to gain that much magical knowledge. He had no idea what his “blood grade” was, but even if he believed that it could somehow show the amount of magic practice a person had done, it was essentially impossible for his to be so high.

“Even if we brought him still injured, we’d still make at least three times as much as that grade B we caught a few years back,” the dwarf – and Taako didn’t think he had ever gotten his name – leaned his back against a tree as he spoke.

Taako lost track of the conversation as the human and dwarf attempted to explain the finer points of the Great Blood Trade, but that was alright. He already knew more than he had ever really wanted to know about it. A while back – after his show collapsed but before he met Magnus and Merle – he was alone and desperate and needed money fast, so he had sold some of his blood to one of the…more legal blood markets. One of the markets that cared if the blood was freely given. 

There was nothing else he wanted to say on the subject. It was a really low time of his life and he liked to pretend that perpetuating a highly racist, destructive practice was something that never actually happened.

Taako stole another glance at the group around the fire and when they made no indication to look in his direction, turned his attention towards himself. 

His shirt was gone – fuck, he had liked that shirt, too – and replacing it was the most ugly-looking bandages that he had ever seen. They were some sort of horrendous yellow color, which clashed horribly with the rest of his outfit, honestly, but it was nice to know for a fact that they wanted to keep him alive. 

He was propped up in a sitting position in an open-top wagon. His hands were bound behind him at the wrists which – he took shallow breaths as he slowly moved to look – were connected by about a foot or so of rope to a metal ring behind him. His legs were similarly bound at the ankles. To the left of him lied a metal chain and shackles, which were probably not used on him because they were more likely to jar his already injured body as they drove. They had very obviously taken care not to hurt him more than he already was. They probably figured that he would be too tired to do anything with the extra slack that the rope would give him.

Taako hated that they were right.

His non-injured, magically-charged self would have laughed at his current restraints. He could magick through rope easily – chains would be harder and he would need more time, but he could probably burn through those too if given an hour or so. The foot or so of rope connecting his hands to the wagon, itself, should have been enough for him to maneuver his way into untying his legs and finding a way to get his arms out, even without magic. As he was, though, he could barely move at all before his body started aching, let alone do twists.

Taako shifted, trying to turn his body to a more comfortable position, and his breath caught as his ribs screamed in disapproval and his chest burned. Taako swallowed back his exclamation of pain into as quiet a sound as possible and blinked tears from his eyes. Crap. Right. Cracked ribs and cut chest. Got it.

Once the flare had died down enough for him to be able to think about literally anything else, Taako closed his eyes and let himself rest a moment, tuning back into the conversation being held around the fire when there were mentions of a child.

“-couldn’t have killed him?”

“He was a kid, it should have been easy!” Kael responded.

“Well I  _ would  _ have if I actually knew where he went!” the dwarf’s voice, angry and confrontational, grew in intensity as he spoke. “What should I have done; let you guys go on ahead while I waited for him to come out of hiding? Who knows how long that would take!”

“Kern, I hate having loose ends,” Bryon said, barely audible.

“Oh relax, all of you. He what, did a knock spell?” The archer, Farris, waved her hand from where she sat. “It was just a kid; he can’t do much.”

Something in Taako’s mind eased and allowed him to breathe a bit easier at the news. So Angus was alive. Good. How long had it been since they last saw each other? At least a day, considering it was almost nightfall. Potentially more, depending on how long he was out.

Angus had probably gotten back to the Bureau by now, Taako mused. Soon Magnus and Merle – and potentially the kid detective himself, if he was alright – would come looking for him. Well, he hoped they would come looking, anyway. He wouldn’t be surprised if they just left him just like Sazed did the second that – no. He knew they wouldn’t leave him behind.

Taako let himself just breathe for a moment, letting himself get used to the way his body was feeling. 

So how could he make himself easier to find? If they didn’t have Angus, who knew how long it could take for them to find him without some sort of track. The Tres Horny Bois weren’t exactly known for their tracking skills. He didn’t have enough magic to send up a beacon – or do much of anything, really, all of it was being poured into holding his body in stasis and keeping him conscious – so any sort of magical option would have to be out.

Taako racked his mind for something he could use to leave a sort of trail. Tearing his clothes was a no; he didn’t think he had the strength to do so. He would try to press his bracer for an orb, even if all it did was ping his location up, but the way his hands were tied made it impossible to do so. He didn’t think he had the energy to get into it anyway, even if he wasn’t tied to a wagon with a group of people ready to fight his leaving.

Maybe there was something in the wagon he could use? Taako looked around, carefully searching behind him with his fingertips, hands getting tangled in his partially undone braid. Taako’s eyes lit up. His hair clips. His hair had been particularly annoying that morning, so he had stamped down the stragglers with a few bobby pins. He’d also decorated it a bit with some hair clips before going planetside. They were all small, but better than nothing. 

Periodically checking to make sure his actions weren’t getting noticed, he combed through his hair and untangled a clip near the lower part of his braid. The action pulled at his chest a little, but he knew it would be nothing compared to what he was about to do.

With another look at the campfire – they were eating and paying no attention to the wagon – Taako slowly worked himself up the side of the wagon until he was in a half-sitting position and his hands had a shot of tossing something over the side. By the time he managed to get there, he was sweating and he couldn’t really breathe anymore, but he managed to toss the clip over the edge of the wagon. It just barely made it, but it skittered from the wooden lip of the side and tumbled to the ground.

It was both bliss and agony sliding back into his previous position. The knowledge that the act was done and that he could rest was the best news he’d gotten all day. But the pain he received as he slid too quickly downward was excruciating, the landing jarring his entire frame. He couldn’t help the cry of pain that followed, nor the sudden dots blocking his vision as he struggled to be able to breathe – but not too deeply! – again.

When he was able to see again, tears were blurring his vision and the large dragonborn was standing over him. Taako couldn’t even muster the energy to keep his head up as Byron ran his hands over Taako’s chest.

“It reopened a bit,” the dragonborn called to the others.

Vex stood and made her way over, checking the bandages. “You’re right. Kael, bring me more bandages, would you?”

The halfling shrugged and rummaged through their pack. Taako focused on Kael’s movements to distract himself as Byron supported his back and Vex unwrapped the bandages. Things were getting blurry around the edges, but Taako forced his eyes to focus. 

Casually, Vex set the bandages aside and wiped away some blood, placing her palm in the middle of Taako’s chest. 

Getting healed by Vex was nothing like getting healed by Merle. 

Merle’s healing was based from his faith in Pan, and while Merle’s healing was not…pleasant, exactly, Taako usually felt some sort of relief as the taste of hay and earth and greenery filled his mouth. It wasn’t overly horrible to feel his body being twined back together, especially since he was usually told that it was ‘cool to pass out or whatever’ if things got too real.

He didn’t feel like he had that luxury here. He didn’t know what they would do if he was unconscious, so his body refused to let him pass out. And Vex’s healing tasted like rusty pennies and lamp oil and it  _ hurt _ . He could feel his skin forcing itself together; felt it seal at the surface, but no deeper. He would have to deal with it on his own. From there, he felt his ribs shift into a slightly better placement – making it a little easier to breathe – but those weren’t healed completely, either. Vex removed her hand.

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to just heal the cut since you’re at it?” Kael questioned as they handed over new bandages.

Yeah. Taako wanted to know the answer to that, too. She had barely done anything for it; only sealing the surface. It was still going to take up all of his magic.

The dwarf, Kern, spoke from his spot by the fire. “His magic’ll replenish when he’s healed. Right now, he physically can’t cast any spells. Haven’t you noticed that he’s barely done a thing this whole time?”

“Unless you want to fight him every morning for the next few days, he can stay injured,” Vex agreed. “Besides, why waste the energy it would take? I’m already tired.”

Taako’s eyes were having trouble concentrating again and he had to blink sweat out of them as he was leaned back against the side of the wagon. Vex snapped her fingers in front of his eyes until he was able to focus on her.

“You still with us?” she held out a skein of water and some food. “Come on then, you heard my party. We’ve got to keep you alive.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kudos and comments - it's keeping this college student in good spirits. I'm so happy that you guys enjoy the idea, as half-thought-out as it is. :)   
> Heads up, next chapter will be pretty short. Have a good week, guys!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus wants to help find Taako. Lucretia gets in the way.

Angus was exhausted. After taking a (very wobbly) shower, he had reported to Madame Director and fallen asleep the second he finished explaining what happened. He wasn’t even able to eat the late lunch that she had Davenport bring him. But even though he had slept through the rest of that day – and through the entire night, as well! He had slept in until 10AM and felt mortified – he was still sleepy. 

But Taako was always there for him, even when he hadn’t meditated or slept in a while (speaking of, Angus had hardly ever seen him meditate, which probably meant he wasn’t getting rest, right? When he was back maybe Angus could talk him into it?) so Angus wasn’t about to let a little thing like sleepiness get in the way of helping him.

“Angus, I already told you that my answer is no.”

Madame Director, on the other hand,  _ was _ getting in the way. 

“But Madame Director-!”

“You may call me Lucretia, Angus.”

“Lucretia, I  _ have _ to go and help Magnus and Merle find Taako! You  know that I can find him faster than they could!”

“Angus, I-” Lucretia turned away. “I need them to find Taako as much as you do, but-”

“Then let me help!”

“-but you are still a child. I offered you this position because I knew you would excel in it, but I am not comfortable with the idea of sending you after a group of people actively trying to kill you.”

“They weren’t even after me!”

“But they would be if they saw you again.” Lucretia turned back and raised an eyebrow. “I know that you’ve considered that possibility. You’re too smart to have overlooked it.”

Angus huffed and reminded himself that he needed to stay level-headed, sleepiness be darned! “I’m almost twelve-”

“So young,” Lucretia looked at him with a sort of…longing, maybe? Like she was remembering something, “and therefore still a child under my employ. I believe in your skills of diffusing conflict, but this is different.”

“Lucretia ,” Angus crossed his arms. “I have been a detective for years now. This isn’t new to me.”

“I know that you are a great detective, Angus. Your skills aren’t in question. Your  _ safety _ and  _ judgement _ are.”

Angus could feel his face growing hot.  “But-”

Lucretia held up a hand. “That is  enough , Angus. I’ve already told  Avi not to hold the sphere for you when Magnus and Merle arrive. I’ll be sending Carey and Killian down as well if they return from their mission before Taako is back. Why don’t you go lie down? You still look exhausted.”

Angus knew he was being dismissed and scowled, setting his usual good manners aside. He was too tired and upset to be polite. Once he left Lucretia’s office, he rubbed at his eyes, stifling a yawn. He felt bad that he wasn’t planning on listening to Lucretia, but  surely she would understand that this was important!

Angus pulled out his new Stone of  Farspeech and chose Magnus’ and Merle’s group line. “Hello sirs.”

“Hey  Ango ,” Magnus replied, his voice tenser than his usual self. “What’s up?”

“Did you hear from Lucretia?” Merle added, voice a bit muffled. “Not sure how much longer I can keep the big guy from bolting to the nearest sphere.”

Angus squeezed his eyes shut. He could probably get past Avi, but...he really didn’t like lying to his friends. “Yep, I’m cleared to go!” his voice sounded strained, but he doubted they would notice considering how distracted they were.

“Oh, good.” Angus could hear the relief in Magnus’ voice and knew he made the right decision. “We’re so glad you can come with us, buddy. We don’t know much about tracking. Head on over; we’ ll meet you at the sphere. We’re leaving as soon as you get here.”

Angus broke into a run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Short chapter today because I'm exhausted, sorry. If this chapter sucks, let me know and I'll try to rewrite it, I guess? Anyway, I love you all and hope you had a good week!


	6. Taako has A Good Time (tm)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's in the title, my dudes. Taako is having A Good Time (tm) here in the wilderness.

Time…didn’t really apply anymore. 

Taako was living in a constant daze of foggy consciousness mixed with pain. Every so often, he’d get an hour of lucidity, but then it was back to the haze and sometimes Taako wished he just never woke up in the first place. 

Though when he was asleep he had weird dreams of things that felt real but weren't real at all. 

Ever since his first – and so far, his only – large act of defiance, he had been worse off than ever. In a moment of stupidity, he had decided that he wanted to teleport. Binds and injuries and  _ lack of expendable magic  _ be damned. He barely managed to teleport at all before he passed out from the effort and flickered back into existence about ten meters from where he started. 

When he had come to again, it was a day later and his ribs felt worse than ever. He was also sporting a swollen ankle as well as the chains that had previously just been sitting in the wagon. Taako still wasn’t sure if his injuries were caused by his captors or if he had teleported several feet above ground and had crash landed when he fell.

They were watching him more carefully now, and they had stopped partially healing him altogether: hence the barely lucid state he was almost always in by this point. Without any sort of extra energy at all, he was barely able to wake up when he was shaken. Hell, he barely had enough energy to keep his wounds in stasis – he wasn’t even able to heal himself at all by this point. He was no longer getting better, but at least he wasn’t actively dying.

Or maybe he was? Taako couldn’t really tell at this point. All he knew was that it really, really sucked. The only thing that didn’t suck was that when he was hazy, things didn’t really hurt as much as when he was lucid. 

Taako had always been more on the lean side ever since Sazed, but Merle – of all people,  _ Merle _ – had been prodding him to eat more, muttering something about how he was ‘like damned kids’ or something when they ate together. Coupled with Magnus "let's all eat regular meals together like a family or some shit" Burnsides, this lead to Taako gaining a healthy ten or so pounds. 

He was pretty sure he had lost that over the past few days. They’d be hounding him over it for months, and he had  _ just _ gotten them to lay off, too. 

Taako closed his eyes as Byron picked him up out of the wagon, not wanting to get dizzy in one of his precious moments of consciousness. 

“You know, my blood won’t actually do anything more than the caster’s own blood will,” Taako remarked, trying to bring up a conversation to distract him from the haze that constantly loomed behind his eyes. It wasn’t a lie, technically. First of all, elves weren’t predisposed to having magical blood, that was racist shit. Sure, the more powerful the wizard, the more powerful the blood by proxy, but often the caster’s blood was more tuned to their craft than anyone else’s could be, generally making the blood they bought no better than their own.

“You told me that same thing yesterday.” Byron set him down by a sturdy tree, letting Taako lean his back against it.

“Hmm.” Fuck. Taako blew hair out of his face, trying not to show how much his lack of memory bothered him. “That’s because it’s true.”

“Vex said you’d do anything to get free.”

“She’s probably right,” Taako agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m lying.”

“Why do I care? I’ll get paid either way.” Byron let him go and began to tie him to the tree.

Alright, time to switch tactics. “Not if she’s lying about my blood level.”

Byron paused in his movements. “What?”

Taako had his attention. Now he just had to keep it. “Well, she said my blood got an S, right? That’s ridiculous; there’s no way that could possibly happen.”

“Well, it’s never happened before.”

“So what makes this different? Maybe Vex realized she swooped up an E,” Taako nodded at himself, “and didn’t want you guys to know she make a mistake.”

Byron narrowed his eyes. “How would you know your blood level?”

“I don’t,” Taako shrugged. “but I know there’s no way that it broke past B+." hell, he hadn't eve met anyone above a low B any Maybe she broke it so you guys wouldn’t be able to see how bad the level was.”

“We did lose a lot on this one.”

Uh-huh. One shitty spellcaster. They sure did lose a lot. “So, you think that I could have my hands in front of me this time? Having my hands behind my back is – it really fucking makes it hard to breathe with these ribs.”

Byron shrugged, unlocked his hands, and locked them again in the front of his body before tightening the bonds holding him to the tree. Taako sighed in relief as his back stopped sending shocks of pain up and down his spine.

Byron looked obviously troubled as he tossed Taako a blanket for the evening, and the conversation appeared to be over. Which was good, because Taako highly doubted he could stay conscious for much longer. 

Taako tracked Kael with his eyes as they were sent out of the camp to tell the Clinic that the group would be arriving in two days. Crap. He didn’t have much time left.

His chest throbbed, and it ached deep within him. Taako panted as there was increased spike of pain before everything went blurry again.

God. 

Magnus and Merle better fucking hurry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I wrote this to avoid an anxious stupor over absolutely nothing in particular, so if this is completely incoherent, you know why. Wow, I sure do love my brain and the choices it decides to make about what is and is not something to worry about.   
> Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and know that I love and care about all of you!  
> -Ace


	7. More Good Times in the Forest (tm)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is late and not exactly what I wanted to send out - I wanted a bit more of the boys tracking down the group that took Taako for this chapter. I actually started writing that scene and was going to put it at the beginning of this chapter, but it was taking to long to finish and was getting long. If you guys want to see it, I might finish it up and post it as a one-shot under this universe. Let me know.

Taako was exhausted. In an effort to pool his magical abilities, he had to stay awake in order to prevent his magic from automatically returning back to his wounds. He had been feeling steadily worse all day, and had barely managed to stay awake. He knew that he wasn’t exactly coherent through most of it.

Honestly, he probably wouldn’t have tried this at all, if it weren’t for the fact that they were so close to wherever the hell their destination was. So long as his magic could get him partially away from…wherever they were, he didn’t really care. Hopefully, Magnus and Merle could take it from there. He had hopes that they were getting close, but he couldn’t afford to wait any longer. He had heard stories about people that got stuck in the blood market. He did not want to be one of them.

Taako leaned back against the tree and breathed as deeply as he dared, breath hitching whenever he breathed just a bit too deep and his chest burned. He sat quietly as his captors did their usual bickering over who was going to keep watch first and Taako mentally cheered when the dragonborn, easily the least perceptive of the bunch, was chosen.

Once everyone’s breathing evened out, Taako began casting a spell of rage. It would be slow-acting, and there was always the possibility that the dragonborn would turn on him (he was in range, after all), but-

Magnus burst from the treeline, barreling into the camp with his ax raised, heading for Byron with a yell.

Surprised, Taako lost his grip on his magic and he could have cried with relief as it automatically returned to his wounds, leaving him (once again) defenseless but feeling more safe than he had felt for a good week. His magic dulled the pain a little, and when it’s sharpness left he nearly fell asleep on the spot.

But the battle wasn’t won yet so he had to stay on guard, right?

The dragonborn didn’t have enough time to block and Taako watched as Magnus sliced into his chest. Damn, that was a good hit - but Byron yelled to wake up what was left of the group: the still-injured archer, Farris, the dwarf, Kern and the human Vex. Magnus and Merle could take them without his help. Probably. Speaking of…

Taako tore his eyes away from the fight Magnus was having (Magnus had just taken a hit, but he brushed it off and took an opportunity attack as Byron stepped back and hoLY SHIT did Magnus just attempt to  _ chop his arm off _ ?!) to look for Merle. It took him a second, but he found Merle knocking the archer prone before ending up in a fight with the other dwarf.

Taako caught himself yawning and god, he was so tired. Maybe it would be okay if he fell asleep after all? It had been so long since he felt safe enough to actually  _ rest  _ while he slept.

Unfortunately, that didn’t look like it was going to happen. As he closed his eyes, he heard the hiss of a blade and felt the rope tying him to the tree go slack. He opened his eyes in time to see Vex standing over him before she yanked him to his feet and Taako yelped as his vision went black and his body went limp in response to the sharp movement. Everything  _ fucking hurt  _ but the way he was being pulled hurt even more and he willed his legs to  _ work  _ so that at the very least he could move in a way that hurt less but Vex was moving so  _ fast  _ towards the horses that he couldn’t do anything but be dragged.

Taako thought he saw Angus in the treetops, which he would have passed off as a hallucination if Angus had not pulled out his wristbow hit Vex with it. The arrow caught her in the shoulder and she cursed and dropped him and Taako’s chest exploded with pain before he blacked out.

Everything else was flashes.

A worried Magnus cupping his face, hands floating above his body as though wanting to help but not knowing if he could be moved without getting hurt more. His anxious hands eventually went to lift Taako’s head and shift him so that it could rest on Magnus’ lap, which was nice of him but also kind of gross because Magnus had blood spattered all over him. It was also unnecessary since Taako couldn’t really feel anything but the burning in his torso and the comforting pressure of Magnus holding his hand. 

A worried boy-detective climbing down from a nearby tree to shoot an arrow at the retreating form of Vex. A smaller hand slipping into his, not as strong as the one holding his right but equally as comforting. It upset him that he couldn’t get his hands to grip back.

Merle’s gruff voice tinged with emotion. Cold metal cutting through the bandage on his chest and warm hands being placed on it. Warmth filling his torso and the taste of hay filling his mouth as he felt something shift in chest and it hurt but it also felt  _ right _ . 

His friends’ faces getting blurry and blinking to clear his vision and feeling warmth streak down his cheeks and oh, those were tears, weren’t they? And once the tears started they didn’t  _ stop  _ and Magnus was starting to look teary too and asked Merle if there was something he could do about the pain but Taako wasn’t feeling any pain because he could barely feel anything at all but he couldn’t get his mouth to say those words and the tears still  _ didn’t stop _ . He felt Merle’s hands travel to his head for a second before going back to his chest and he nodded to Magnus.

Magnus telling him that it was okay to fall asleep and Taako didn’t know that he was waiting for those words but he was and he closed his eyes and felt relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did actually roll dice to see how this battle would go. Potentially, Taako might have stayed with this group as they reached the Blood Market. But don't worry, we're not done with that plot yet. Anyway, should I have written this fight in more detail? Probably. Apologies not only for updating so late but also for updating something so short. On the bright side, I've almost got the next chapter completely written so you can expect to see at least that chapter on time.  
> Love you all!
> 
> -Ace


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako gets back to the moonbase and deals with feeling...not-so-peachy-keen.

When Taako woke up, he felt tired.

So tired that it took him a full five minutes to figure out the reason why he felt different: he wasn’t in pain.

Or, well, in all consuming pain, anyway. He also wasn’t tied up anymore and was actually lying on a real bed, thank fuck. 

Slowly, Taako pushed himself into a sitting position, panting because  _ jesus fuck it wasn’t supposed to be this hard anymore; wasn’t he was supposed to be healed and shit? _ Why was it that it hurt now more than it did earlier? 

It was probably the absence of pain that did him in, once he didn’t feel pain anymore it was hell going back to it.

He pushed himself the rest of the way upright, pushing whatever pillows that were behind him back even further so that he could still have a cushion. With the way he felt right now, there was  _ no way  _ that he would turn around and prop himself up that way. He didn’t care if it was a little uncomfortable, it would be ten times worse if he twisted.

He probably didn’t have the energy to do that anyway. He got tired sitting up, he couldn’t imagine the strain of twisting.

To the side of his bed was a wooden chair (which had to have been dragged up to his room at some point, though he didn’t know why they bothered: he had a small chair by his desk. Granted, it was covered in various items of clothing at the moment) and a bedside table (which also had to have been dragged up to his room, Magnus probably just finished making the thing as he didn't own one prior) with a glass of water on it.

Taako stared at the water for a moment. The cup was just out of arm’s reach, and he would have to move if he wanted to pick it up, but the whole of his body was just so sore that he didn’t want to move at all. So he did as he would on any other lazy day and levitated the cup to himself.

It didn’t really work out.

The cup got all of three inches towards him before Taako’s magic gave out and pulled at his ribs, causing Taako to gasp and drop the spell. The cup hit the side of the nightstand, splashed against the bed, then dropped to the ground where he heard a tell-tale crack. Well. Shit. He really should have known better. There was no way that his magic had recovered that far, especially considering that his ribs still ached.

Taako’s ears swiveled as he heard a commotion in the kitchen before hearing loud footsteps coming up to his room. Magnus threw open the door, eyes wide with alarm.

“Uh, hey, Mango,” Taako said, voice a little hoarse, “d’ya think you could help an elf out and - oof!”

Taako squeaked as Magnus gave him a hug. It hurt a bit, but Magnus must have been trying to be careful because he avoided actually squeezing

“I’m so - I’m so glad you’re awake.” Magnus burrowed his face into the side of Taako’s neck and he sat there for a moment. Taako reached up and patted his back a little awkwardly.

“I’m not,” Taako attempted at humor. “Being injured is annoying.”

His humor fell flat as Magnus only continued to hug him. “You’ve been in and out of it the past few days, but this is the first time you’ve been coherent. You’re actually seeing me.”

“Uh, yeah, kinda hard not to since you’re basically on top of me.” His ribs were starting to ache from his arms being up, so he let them drop back onto the bed. 

Magnus let go and stepped back, and - oh, hell, he was teary-eyed. “Merle said it was normal with a fever, but-”

“Where is Merle, anyway?” Taako interrupted, hoping to change the subject to literally anything that would prevent Magnus from crying right now.

Magnus cleared his throat. “He’s in the kitchen making soup. I’ll grab you a bowl,” he looked down at the puddle he was standing in. “Aww, my socks are wet!”

Taako snickered, which,  _ ow _ . It was Magnus’ own fault for wearing socks inside anyway. Taako would go barefoot the second he stepped into the house, he disliked them so much. Honestly, he could understand Merle, who kept his shoes on all day, more than he understood Magnus with his whole wear-socks-indoors thing.

Magnus pouted. “I’ll get something to clean that up too. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

“Yell if you need me.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll be right in the kitchen.”

“Magnus. I’m good. Really,” Taako gave him an insistent look. “Go.”

“Right. Okay,” Magnus finally stepped out of the room and Taako allowed himself a good minute to freak out.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the attention. Generally, he’d enjoy it. But it was just annoying when he was hurt because they were paying attention for all the wrong reasons and Taako couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he had apparently been asleep for days and he barely regained any magical ability at all. How hurt had he been? He knew that Merle had healed him for worse and he was fine the next day. Why did a couple of ribs and a cut make him feel so awful?

He still couldn’t believe that he hadn't been awake for several days. And talking in his sleep too, how embarrassi- 

Taako froze. Shit. What did he talk about? This was not how he wanted to have his past brought up with his friends. He would prefer that to be...hmm...fucking never in his whole goddamned life. But being asleep and saying something? Infinitely worse. What if it was about his childhood? His past? Or worse, that show where…

Taako felt his ribs ache and he noticed that he was shaking. He took a trembling breath in and let it out. He could deal with it when it came up. Hopefully it wouldn’t for a while. In the meantime…

Taako gauged his magic reserves. It was dishearteningly low, but by tomorrow or the day after he probably would have enough to be up and about again. He already was starting to get bored.

The door opened again and it was Merle who stepped in, a bowl of soup in one hand, water in the other, and a towel slung over his arm.

“Heard there was broken glass?” Merle asked, handing the bowl of soup to Taako and setting the water on the table.

“Yup,” Taako popped the ‘p’ as he tried to figure out how to make his tired arms function again. He fumbled with the spoon for a second and nearly spilled the bowl. Thankfully, Merle was too busy cleaning up the glass and didn’t notice. After a minute of trying, he decided the effort wasn’t worth it and muttered a quick spell to keep his bowl steady. It was a simple levitation spell, and since it was nonmoving and small, Taako shouldn’t have had to spare a second thought to it. On a normal day, he did this all the time with multiple objects at once. But when he casted the spell and the bowl leveled, Taako felt his head spin for a moment and he closed his eyes until the sensation died down. When he opened his eyes again, Merle was staring at him.

“What?”

“Did you just use your magic?”

Taako looked down at the floating bowl and back up again. “Nah, our bowls just float sometimes.”

Merle shook his head and threw the glass pieces away, muttering something about know-it-all elves and idiots and how he wondered at Taako’s continued existence before speaking louder. “I can cure physical wounds, but I won’t be able to keep up if you’re not helping. Since I couldn’t cure you right away, it’s going to take longer anyway. ‘Sides, I can’t refill your magic for you, and you’re already dealing with how you’ve overextended your magical capabilities.”

Taako did not like where this was going.

“So no more magical shenanigans,” Merle waved his arms in the air, “until your magic has fully replenished. Got it?”

Taako cursed under his breath. Half the time he used his magic without even thinking about it; it was ingrained into his  _ being _ . Besides, he knew what he was doing: it wasn’t like he had never overextended his magic before. Though, granted, those times were usually from late nights of creating and testing new spells.

Taako’s thought process must have been visible in his expression because suddenly, Merle launched into preaching about something-or-other, Taako kind of tuned him out and just nodded every so often as he ate his soup until Merle stopped talking.

“-shouldn’t use magic. Got it?”

Blah blah don’t use magic blah healing blah. Got it. 

“Crystal clear my dude,” Taako rolled his eyes and finished off the soup. It was good, but if he was cooking he would have added a bit more red wine to bring out the flavor of the beef - but he wasn’t cooking, Taako reminded himself, he wasn’t cooking. “Where’d Magnus go?”

“He went to grab that kid,” Merle took the bowl from the air and shoved the glass of water into Taako’s hands. “Don’t drop that this time.”

Taako waved him off and gulped down the water, feeling drowsy.

Merle looked at him measuredly.

“What?”

“Go to sleep. Or meditate. Whatever, you look beat.”

Taako huffed. He would have cast minor illusion on himself if he realized he was supposed to make a statement. “I’d rather shower.”

Merle raised an eyebrow. “You think you can stand on your own?”

Taako’s pride said yes but his body said no. “I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Wise choice.” Merle took the cup back and looked at Taako more carefully. “I’ll tell Magnus to bring the kid later. Go sleep or whatever.”

Taako did.

 

* * *

 

 

Something was different about his room. The air was denser, a little colder, maybe. It was nothing to worry about. His unconscious disregarded it immediately.

* * *

 

 

Footsteps, now. His ears twitched in recognition of the presence of another person. It wasn’t Magnus or Merle - he wouldn’t have started to awaken if it was, and the footsteps were too light. 

Something about it was familiar, though; it wasn’t something he had to worry about. It was safe, whoever or whatever it was. He lost the little bit of consciousness he had as his subconscious disregarded that, too.

He faded back into sleep to the sensation of a cold, smooth hand resting lightly on his forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thank you for being so patient with me! I tried to get this (barely edited) chapter up on Friday, but I've been out-of-town and with barely functioning wifi, so it wasn't able to upload. I hope you all had a good weekend and are ready to face this week!  
> Love you all - and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)  
> -Ace


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako decides to take a shower after waking up. That's it. That's literally it.

“You good in there?”

“Mag, I  _ just  _ got into the bathroom.” Taako struggled to unwrap the bandages around his chest. It was easier said than done. He couldn’t get it off without twisting, but he couldn’t twist straining his chest. Why didn’t he have Magnus help him take them off before he got into the bathroom?

“Is that a no?”

Taako groaned at the concern in Magnus’ voice. “It’s been one minute, Mag. You know I love the attention but you don’t have to hover.”

“Last time you were only able to stand for ten minutes. Are you sure you don’t want to take a bath instead?”

Taako finally - finally! - got the bandages to unwrap by peeling them away and dropping them so they slid down and he could grab it again. It looked…kind of gross off his body, and specks of blood dotted it here and there. He balled it up and threw it in the trash. Generally, Taako liked baths, particularly long ones where he could soak in the water for an hour. However, the allure was lost when you added in too much dirt and blood. “If I wanted to soak in dirty water, I’d…”

Taako caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and trailed off, completely forgetting about what he was going to say as he stared at the scab turned new scar that crossed his chest. It wasn’t as though he was a stranger to scars; before he met Merle he had collected quite a lot: burns on his hands and arms from years of cooking for himself as a child, scars on his knees and part of his thigh…several scars that he couldn’t remember getting but he knew he got at some point during his rough childhood…

But most of those were small - and if they weren’t small, they had faded. Since he teamed up with a cleric, he had been hurt worse than he could ever remember being hurt before but it had never scarred because Merle was always there to heal him. Since Merle was quick to the scene, his body didn’t have a chance to heal on its own and so scars never happened. But this…

Taako trailed a hand across the scar. Too much time had passed, and his body had tried to heal him on it’s own, leading to scarring and a slower recovery, even with Merle here now. This scar was raised, red, and thick from several reopenings and Taako knew that it wouldn’t even begin to fade for years at least. And it was long, dammit, it wouldn’t even be attractive like Magnus’ eyebrow scar; it would just be  _ there _ , peeking out from under a crop top or a low neckline and—

Suddenly he felt dizzy and sick and he couldn’t really  _ breathe _ anymore and it had nothing to do with his ribs and everything to do with the way his heart was racing.

“Taako? You kind of stopped in the middle of your sentence, buddy.”

“I’m good,” Taako breathed, gripping the countertop until his knuckles turned white. “I’m good.”

“…I’m coming in,” Magnus announced less than a second before he turned the knob.

Taako eased his hands from the counter and willed his heart to  _ chill the fuck out _ . “Magnus, you said you’d only come in if you heard me pass out in the shower.”

Magnus didn’t comment, putting a hand on Taako’s wrist and feeling the pulse there. He waited until Taako met his eyes. “Okay?”

Magnus’ hand was steady and warm and suddenly it felt like the only thing connecting him to the physical world. 

“Uh, I’m just going to sit for a second.”

Magnus let go but stayed tense until Taako sat on the closed lid of the toilet. “So…no shower.”

“Probably not.” Taako breathed.

Magnus reached by him and turned the bathwater on. “Need help with your pants?”

Taako shrugged, already feeling a bit steadier. “Nah, I’ve got it.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Taako rolled his eyes. “I know, Mag, I’m not shy. I’ll really be fine. Go carve another duck or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”

Magnus headed for the door. “I’ll check in every so often.”

“I know.” Taako stood and closed the door behind him.

Magnus rapped on it. “Keep it unlocked.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

* * *

“How’s he doing?”

“Better,” Magnus sat down on a chair in the living room. “Not well enough to shower, yet, but better. Learn anything about the kidnappers?”

“He better not fully submerge it yet,” Merle groaned. “I spent the morning talking to the kid and all he knew for sure was that they wanted his blood or something.”

Magnus blinked. “Uh…why?”

“Hell if I know.” Merle packed some food into a bag. “The kid probably had a theory but said that Taako would know best. Has he said anything about it?”

“I haven’t…really asked yet.”

“Really?”

“I was planning on having him talk to Angus first, actually.”

“You’ll probably want someone to keep an eye on him.”

“Yeah?”

“Taako gets bored. He’s been eyeing his spellbooks since he woke up.”

“Huh. I guess I could always ask Carey.”

“Taako would not enjoy knowing he had a babysitter. He’d probably bolt the second he could,” Merle stretched.

“Yeah,” Magnus leaned against his hand. “You think he’d listen if we asked him-”

Merle raised an eyebrow, looking highly skeptical.

“Right,” Magnus raised his voice. “Taako!”

“Still alive, bubeluh!” Taako’s voice echoed back, muffled a little by the walls between them.

Magnus nodded in his direction. “He looked like he was gonna throw up when I went in there.”

“Well, he shouldn’t be nauseous now,” Merle shrugged, pulling on his coat. “Look, now that he’s stable, I’ve got an…emergency cleric meeting to get to.”

Magnus’ chest clenched, but he forced the negative feelings of anyone in their group leaving aside. He knew his protective side had been in an overdrive lately. He knew he needed to ease up. Some hours at the gym were in order. Still… “You taking anyone with you?”

Merle gave him a look. “My axe. I’m heading to a  _ cleric _ meeting, Magnus.”

Magnus leveled himself. “Just be careful.”

Merle hooked the bag over his shoulder. “I’ll contact you through the stone of farspeech when I get there,” he replied, sounding exasperated.

Magnus felt some of the anxiety leave. “Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Sorry for such a short chapter after a long break, it's been...a time over here. Krav will finally make his appearance in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!  
> -Ace  
> P.S. The next chapter is also pretty short. Apologies, but at least you'll get some Krav)


	10. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako wakes up and has company.

That night, his night terrors had returned to their usual harassment of his sleep. In some ways, that was a good thing. He finally had the energy to thrash about. 

It was hard to feel grateful when he woke up in the middle of the night with one hand horribly tangled in his hair and the other twisted around a pillow so tightly that the seam had burst and feathers were spilling out.

Once Taako’s heart had stopped pounding like he had just ran a marathon and the dream faded enough for him to think again, he had the presence of mind to realize that, of course,  _ this _ just had to be the night that he got a surprise visit from his boyfriend.

“Whoa, whoa, Taako, it’s me!” Kravitz let his skeleton form fade away into his human self before stepping forward and helping Taako untangle his hand from his hair. “Are you alright? Did I scare you?”

“Nah,” Taako paused. “Well, maybe a little. You need to learn how to knock, darling. No, night terrors. I’m used to them. Why are you still using your work voice?”

“Habit. Sorry, love. You want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

Kravitz hummed in agreement and sat down on the bed. “You missed our date.”

“Huh, I did, didn’t I?” Kravitz was probably the only person he had never stood up on a date before. Oh sure, he’d cancelled a date or two - missions tended to pop up at the worst times - but so had Kravitz, and they had always made sure to tell one another. He had ‘accidentally forgotten’ to go on a date with a couple of people. But…not Kravitz. He felt guilty. It was an odd feeling, and decidedly unpleasant. “Rain check?”

“Of course. I called but it didn’t go through, and when I visited, you had a fever. Is everything alright? I would have stayed last time but, ah, work call.”

"Last time?" Taako bit his lip. Memory loss again? 

Kravitz must have seen the panic in his face because he reached out his hand to cup Taako's face and his voice went soft. "Oh, no, you wouldn't have remembered; you were asleep. Your fever was pretty high. What happened?"

“Mmn. My Stone of Farspeech broke. I was hurt.”

“And Merle couldn’t fix it?” Kravitz pulled his hand away. “How badly were you hurt? Are you still-?”

“Relax skele-man,” Taako yawned, pulling his boyfriend's arm back down to him. “You’re not gonna break anything. It’s not too bad. It’s a long story. Krav, babe, you know I love talking to ya, but I got a body to heal.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“What for?” Taako snuggled deeper into his blankets and looked up at Kravitz. “You staying?”

“I-” Kravitz was interrupted by a buzzing noise coming from his suit and sighed, “-suppose not. Work. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“If you plan on staying, use the front door. Better to have Mags meet the mystery boyfriend than have him catch a reaper standing over his friend.”

“Got it.” Kravitz swung his scythe and allowed the his human form to melt away.

“Hot, babe!” Taako called after him.

Kravitz rolled his eyes and stepped into the portal.

Once Kravitz was gone, Taako pushed his covers aside and got up. If he was going to sleep alone, he’d need his sleeping sack. Night terrors weren’t as likely to happen when he was sleeping around others, or at the very least were less severe. Having someone else around meant safety, for whatever reason, which sucked because before the BoB he was almost always alone. He’d never had to use the sack with Magnus and Merle when they were all traveling together. More often than not, they’d all just end up crashing in one big pile together. It was nice, though Taako would never admit it to the two.

It was lucky that all he had done today was rip up a pillow. Once, he had kicked a wall so hard that he broke two toes and dislocated his ankle, and he really did not want a repeat of that event. He had made up some sort of story to explain it to Merle, probably something to do with getting frustrated with a spell, and Merle had laughed his ass off the entire time he was healing it. He would never live it down, especially after Merle’s laughter stopped and he got a lecture about not wasting Merle’s time by getting hurt unnecessarily. 

Taako snagged his sleeping sack from under his bed and zipped himself into it, using his magic to help him zip it up past his arms, and willed the night terror out of his mind. He was tired and he was going to sleep, damnit, and he wasn’t going to let some garbage memories keep him up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Krav is finally here! This is a short chapter, sorry. I hope you guys are all doing well. As always, I love you all!
> 
> Next up: Some Magnus feels and Taako boredom. Have a good week everyone!


End file.
